'Doping was rife in the 70s and 80s'

Former French international scum-half Jean-Pierre Elissalde has claimed that doping was rife in the 1970s and 1980s.

Former France scum-half Jean-Pierre Elissalde has admited taking performance-enhancing drugs and claims that doping was rife in the 1970s and 1980s.

The former Japan, Bayonne and La Rochelle coach, who won five caps for les Bleus between 1980 and 1981, has admitted to taking amphetamines twice during his playing career, adding that the practice was widespread.

The 59-year-old also pointed a finger at southern hemisphere players who came to France during his era as being particularly guilty but insisted that he believes the modern game is much cleaner.

"In the 1970s and 1980s amphetamines were widely taken," Elissalde told radio station France Bleu.

"It was taken by cyclists, by footballers, and obviously by rugby players.

"There is nothing extraordinary in that. Afterwards there were other forms of doping, notably in order to be able to work harder and to put on muscle."

"The players from the southern hemisphere, when they played down under they produced incredible performances but when they played here, they had more success around the barbecue."

Elissalde, who is the father of former French scrum-half and current Toulouse backs coach Jean-Baptiste Elissalde, made it clear however that times have changed and that he had not seen organised doping during his time as a coach.